Brogan v. Tunkhannock Twp.

302 F. Supp. 3d 670
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 2018
Docket3:14–CV–1690
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 302 F. Supp. 3d 670 (Brogan v. Tunkhannock Twp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brogan v. Tunkhannock Twp., 302 F. Supp. 3d 670 (M.D. Pa. 2018).

Opinion

Robert D. Mariani, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Presently before the Court is a Report and Recommendation ("R & R") (Doc. 96) by Magistrate Judge Carlson, in which he recommends that the motion to dismiss (Doc. 56) and motion for summary judgment (Doc. 75) by Defendants Tunkhannock Township and Officer Zdaniewicz be treated as a motion for summary judgment and that the motions be granted and summary judgment be entered in favor of these defendants. Plaintiff Patrick Brogan has filed Objections (Doc. 97) to the Magistrate Judge's R & R and a brief in support of the Objections (Doc. 98), to which Defendants Tunkhannock Township and Officer Zdaniewicz, as well as Defendant James Sebolka, have filed responses (Docs. 99, 100, 101).1

*674On August 28, 2014, Plaintiff, Patrick Brogan, filed a Complaint in the above-captioned matter (Doc. 1) and subsequently filed an Amended Complaint on September 2, 2014 (Doc. 3) naming as defendants Tunkhannock Township, John Benjamin Zdaniewicz, and James Sebolka. The defendants filed motions to dismiss (Docs. 8, 10), and the Court granted in part and denied in part the Township and Officer Zdaniewicz's motion (Doc. 51) and denied Sebolka's motion in its entirety (Doc. 53).

Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint on August 26, 2015 setting forth five counts: unlawful seizure and search in violation of the Fourth Amendment against Tunkhannock Township and Zdaniewicz (Count I); excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment against Tunkhannock Township and Zdaniewicz (Count II); First Amendment Retaliation against Tunkhannock Township and Zdaniewicz (Count III); violation of Plaintiff's constitutional rights due to inadequate supervision/hiring/training against Tunkhannock Township (Count IV); and assault and battery against Sebolka (Count V). (Doc. 54). Defendants Tunkhannock Township and Officer Zdaniewicz thereafter filed a second Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 56).

Following the completion of discovery, Tunkhannock Township and Officer Zdaniewicz filed a motion for summary judgment (Doc. 75) requesting that summary judgment be granted in their favor on Counts I-IV. James Sebolka also filed a motion for summary judgment (Doc. 74) requesting that summary judgment be entered in his favor on Count V. The Court subsequently referred the motions to Magistrate Judge Carlson for the preparation of Reports and Recommendations on Defendants' pending motions.

II. ANALYSIS

A District Court may "designate a magistrate judge to conduct hearings, including evidentiary hearings, and to submit to a judge of the court proposed findings of fact and recommendations for the disposition" of certain matters pending before the Court. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). If a party timely and properly files a written objection to a Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation, the District Court "shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made." Id. at § 636(b)(1)(C) ; see also, Brown v. Astrue , 649 F.3d 193, 195 (3d Cir. 2011) ; M.D. Pa. Local Rule 72.3.

Here, Plaintiff objects to the Magistrate Judge's R & R "in its entirety." (Doc. 97, at ¶ 1). Specifically, Plaintiff (1) objects to the Magistrate Judge's consideration of Plaintiff's conviction of the charge of harassment by physical contact ( 18 Pa. C.S. § 2709(a)(1) ) when analyzing Plaintiff's claims against the defendants; (2) asserts that the Magistrate Judge erred in his analysis of Plaintiff's First Amendment claim; (3) argues that he never brought a false arrest claim, but rather an unlawful search and seizure claim, which was not analyzed in the R & R; (4) asserts that Officer Zdaniewicz is not entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff's excessive force claim; and (5) argues that he established a Monell claim against the Township. (Doc. 98).2 The Court will address these arguments *675in turn.

Plaintiff's first Objection is that the Magistrate Judge was incorrect to consider the fact that he was convicted of harassment because harassment is "not a crime", but rather a summary offense. (Doc. 98, at 4). Plaintiff fails to cite a single federal case in support of his contention that his conviction for a summary offense is inadmissible and cannot be considered by the Court when analyzing whether a party has presented evidence to establish his or her constitutional claim sufficient to defeat summary judgment. Rather, Courts within this Circuit have repeatedly considered a person's conviction or guilty plea on a summary offense when determining whether that person can prevail on certain constitutional claims. See e.g., Deitrick v. Costa , 2014 WL 268681 (M.D. Pa. 2014)3 ; Hayhurst v. Upper Makefield Twp. , 2007 WL 1795682 (E.D. Pa. 2007) (finding on summary judgment that Plaintiff's claim for unlawful arrest pursuant to § 1983 was barred by Heck v. Humphrey because a ruling in Plaintiff's favor on that claim "would call into question the validity of her disorderly conduct conviction."); Burke v. Twp. of Cheltenham , 742 F.Supp.2d 660 (E.D. Pa. 2010) (finding that Plaintiff's claims against certain defendants for false arrest, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint in handcuffs, and a lack of probable cause to arrest Plaintiff, were barred by Heck due to Plaintiff's guilty plea for disorderly conduct). As a result of the law in this Circuit, and Plaintiff's inability to direct the Court to any federal cases which support his position, the Court rejects Plaintiff's first Objection. Magistrate Judge Carlson was correct in considering Plaintiff's conviction for harassment to the extent that the conviction may invalidate certain claims that Plaintiff has brought against the defendants.

The Court will next address Plaintiff's fourth Objection, which asserts that the Magistrate Judge erred in finding that Officer Zdaniewicz is entitled to qualified immunity on Plaintiff's excessive force claim (Count II) (Doc. 98, at 11-16), as the analysis of Count II is pertinent to the analysis of several of Plaintiff's other Objections.

"Qualified immunity shields federal and state officials from money damages unless a plaintiff pleads facts showing (1) that the official violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was 'clearly established' at the time of the challenged conduct." Ashcroft v. al-Kidd

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
302 F. Supp. 3d 670, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brogan-v-tunkhannock-twp-pamd-2018.